Chuck Ross’s “Protests in Pro Football, 1965–2020” talk examines both the events leading up to the 1965 American Football League All-Star game protest and the events that led to Colin Kapernick’s 2016 NFL protest. Ross will also discuss the legacy of Kapernick’s actions in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the different responses by professional sports leagues and teams in America.

Chuck Ross is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and currently is professor of history and African American studies at the University of Mississippi. He holds a BA in history from Stillman College. He has an MA in Black studies, an MA in history, and a PhD in history, each from The Ohio State University. He is the author of, Mavericks, Money, and Men: The AFL, Black Players, and the Evolution of Modern Football, which was published by Temple University Press in 2016, and Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League, which was released by New York University Press in 1999. His teaching interests include twentieth-century US history, African American history, and sports history. He has appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines and on ESPN Radio.

Associate Professor of History and Southern Studies Darren Grem introduced and facilitated the Q&A for this talk originally recorded on February 11, 2021.

For more information about the Center's SouthTalks series, please visit our website at https://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/.